"Till next time, Alpha Derick," I said with a smile and stretched out my hand. He shook my hand and gave me a small smile in return before I left the restaurant. I stood outside for a while, looking for any sign of Drystan, but when he didn't show up, I got into the car and left.
"That was one eventful meeting," Eliana said out of nowhere, but I nodded in agreement anyway "And we got a hot finance too" she squealed making me chuckle.
"It's not about the looks Eliana, it's about the.."
"Oh please," she said and I could literally see her rolling her eyes "don't act like you don't appreciate or want that hot specimen"
I immediately cleared my throat and shrugged my shoulders "I don't care Eliana" I denied almost immediately.
"I'm in your head, Selene! I know what you feel 90 percent of the time"
"Shut up" I retaliated weakly and for the first time in ages, Eliana listened to me.
I released a deep breath and relaxed in the silence, going over the discussions at the meeting but I'll lying if I say my mind's not wandering off to the hot Were I'll soon be married to. "Get it together," I said to myself and looked out of the window.
"We're here Annha," the driver announced the moment I drifted off to sleep, and he hopped out of the car to open the door for me
"Thank you," I said with a smile on my face as he led me to the front door, he slightly bowed his head before he walked back to the car. I walked into the living room where both parents were sitting waiting for me, my Dad was furiously tapping his leg while mum was busy reading a cookbook, her hand resting on his thigh.
"I'm back!" I said and walked over to the sofa and sat down.
Dad immediately sat up in his chair, his eyes focused on me, while mum just gave me a pleasant smile and dropped her cookbook on her lap. "How was it, princess? Did that weakling say anything that displeases you?" Dad asked, turning his overprotective alpha dad gear on.
I chuckled and shook my head "no dad, it went well. We both arrived at favorable conclusions."
"What are the conclusions?" Mum asked almost immediately in a soft tone, making me turn my attention to her.
"He will be rendering an official apology in a week, and my engagement with Drystan will be official in three weeks. I also made him promise that our previous engagement wouldn't be leaked to the press" I stated and passed a nervous glance to my Dad; who surprisingly looks calm.
"Are you sure Selene? Marriage is a lifelong commitment, and unlike other creatures, once werewolves are married, there's no going back" my mum said and I took a deep breath.
Werewolves have the thickest commitment out of the 3 creatures; humans, witches, and the werewolves. Once werewolves get married; a marking process takes place after 90 days and after that, there's no going back, the Were couple will be forever sealed by the moon goddess.
"I'm sure about my decision mother" I assured her and turned towards my father, who hasn't spoken a single word "Dad..?" I called out to him and he smiled.
"I trust you Annha. You went through with your decisions despite my protests, that means you know what you're doing" He said to me, and surprise washed over me before I smiled pleasantly at him, glad he is finally seeing reasons with me. I stood up from my seat and walked over to him and mum, and engulfed the both of them in a tight hug "thank you, Mum and Dad, for trusting me" I gave the both of them a kiss on their forehead, before releasing them.
"I'll be heading to my room now, I'm exhausted" they both nodded but Dad stretched out a piece of paper towards me.
"The letter from the trainers" I squealed and excitedly took the paper from him; a big smile graced my face as I read through it "the pack trainees are ready for the Annha test, so you'll be taking them on their test tomorrow"
"Thank you and good night," I said, trying to contain my excitement as I walked off to my room.
The Annha test; is a test where trainees are officially selected to be the pack warriors. It was just our pack tradition, we weren't much in the pack hence there weren't many trainers so we opted for a method of selection, and the name was chosen after I qualified as the best warrior, leaving me in charge of the selection as well.
"It happens only twice a year right?" Eliana asked
out of nowhere while I was washing up for the night.
"Yes, March and September, and this is the last one for the year," I said excitedly. The last selection of the year is usually really tough and fun because I get to select from the toughest and most determined trainees; who don't want to wait till next year to go through the training troubles again.
"Oh, that's nice then. At least we get to host the last one for the year" Eliana said sadly and I raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"What do you mean?"
"Our engagement to Drystan is in 3 weeks, and the marriage ceremony doesn't take more than 3 months after that; if the Annha is of age. So, realistically speaking by December we'll be members of a new pack before next year"
I sighed and walked to my bed, and covered myself with my duvet "Let's take it one at a time Eliana, let's just think of the test and nothing more." I said to her and closed my eyes, praying to God that I fall asleep immediately.
******
"Wake up!" Eliana shouted in my head and I immediately jumped up from my bed
"What's wrong? What's happening?" I asked, frantically looking around my room.
She immediately burst into laughter "dumbass you're late!" She said amidst laughter and I felt like ripping her head off when she said that.
"Common Eliana, that's not funny. I need my rest for the day's activities, and it's not even late my alarm hasn't rung yet"
She scoffed "yeah right, your alarm clock is on the other side of the room in pieces, and it's late because it's been over 20 minutes since the alarm rang"
"Oh my God!" I exclaimed and quickly ran into the bathroom to freshen up, and within 30 minutes I was done bathing and dressing.
My hair was tied up in a bun and I was dressed in a black and white workout outfit, with a white converse to match, a red whistle hung loosely on my neck. "let's go get them prepped" with that, I left my room and walked over to the training field, not bothering to stop for breakfast.
I walked and met at least a thousand trainees scattered all over the field, doing one thing or the other to warm up. A smile crept on my face as I saw them, this selection will be so much fun.
"Attention!" I said in a loud voice and all of them turned towards me, "get in line" I ordered and they immediately lined up and I nodded my head, trying to hide my smile at their teamwork and orderliness.
"I'm glad you all made it to the last selection of the year, and I hope you all know the results won't make everyone happy," I said walking in between the spacings in their lines.
"Yes, Annha" they chorused.
"That's good, but I will be addressed as Commander Selene" I ordered
"Yes, Commander Selene" a smile appeared on my face as I walked back to the front.
"We're going to start the day with a basic exercise, running, and your exam officially starts now" I stated in a firm voice and they stomped their right foot on the ground.
"Yes Commander Selene"
"Merge into 10 groups" I ordered and they quickly did as ordered "You all in your groups will run 3000 miles, the last 10 to complete their race in each group will be automatically disqualified"
I saw them exchange a glance before turning back to me "To summarize it all, over 100 of you will be disqualified this morning. Am I clear?"
"Yes, Commander Selene" they chorused again, their voices a bit shaky.
"Each group should select one person to come and pick the lane they will be taking" Warrior Black; a newly selected soldier from early this year brought out a bowl containing 10 different folded pieces of paper.
The 10 selected Weres from the different groups came out and chose their lanes, "Attention!" I called out when it became clear that every group knows the lane they'll be taking "at the count of 3..." I said, running my hands on the whistle on my neck.
"1!...2!....3!..." At the count of that, over 200 Weres ran off, automatically getting disqualified. I smiled and nodded at those that were still standing. "start!" I shouted and blew the whistle, and they all took off.
"This particular part is never not fun" Captain Scarlett; a 25-year-old Werewolf with exceptional beauty and curves, and my second-in-command said, and came out of nowhere.
"I was trying my best not to burst into laughter the moment they set off," I said to her chuckling a bit
"This selection will totally be worth the time, over 700 smart Weres getting selected is definitely something I want to be a part of," she said, wiggling her eyebrows mischievously
"I can't wait to see what you've got prepared for preselection" she smirked at me and whispered into my ear.
"You'll see Annha, Captain Scarlett never disappoints" she skipped off after saying that. I chuckled and shook my head, she always does insane things during the selection.
~ an hour later ~
I stood on the podium waiting for the trainees to assemble back, after a few minutes of waiting they all stood before me in their respective lines.
"Welcome back trainees. I believe those that are here didn't see their name on the list" I said, referring to the long list of the disqualified candidates that was asted outside the training field.
"Yes commander Selene," they chorused together.
"Well then, congratulations for passing the first round; Test of Observance and speed," a smile broke out on their faces at my words.
"Thank you, Commander," I nodded my head at them and quickly contacted Captain Scarlet through the mind link.
"The trainees are here" she replied immediately
"I'm here already," she said beside me, I turned towards her and smiled at her, before turning back to the trainees.
"Before we proceed to the next round, captain Scarlett has something for you," I said and shifted a bit to let Scarlett move to the center.
"Thanks, commander," she said to me and turned to the trainees "Congratulations on passing the first round, and to congratulate you, the soldiers prepared something for you in order to encourage you," she said and clapped her hands twice.
A group of Omegas came out with trays of small chops and stood in front of the trainees "feel free to take as much as you want" she said and the Omegas began sharing the chops as soon as she finished talking.
"Those chops have laxatives," Eliana said to me, and I nodded my head.
"I know, I smelt it the moment the Omegas walked in"
Scarlett moved closer to me, a sly smile on her face. "I believe you already know what's inside those chops. It'll test their sense of smell and allow us to watch them try to fight with a troubled stomach" she said, rubbing her hands together as she watched some of them put the chops in their mouth.
"You're evil Scarlett," I said, trying to hide the smile on my face.
"Common, you know you enjoy it and we always get the best cause of my tricks" I shook my head and walked back to the center.
"With that being said and done, let's get to the next round; test of strength"
"You will be facing the pack soldiers in a duel for 2 hours" series of groans erupted for the trainees "Quiet!" They all instantly became quiet.
"There are a few rules for this round; 1) You win by knocking your partner off their feet. The moment they fall on their back, you win
2) No sharp weapons.
3) You leave the battleground, you lose.
4) You are free to forfeit any time.
5) You win If you're still standing by the end of the two hours" The soldiers came out the moment I was done listing the rules.
"Is everyone ready?" I asked as loud as I can.
"Yes Commander"
"Positions!" The soldiers and trainees immediately got into sparring portions "Start!" I shouted and they all rushed towards each other.
A chair was brought for Captain Scarlett and me the moment the spar started. "How long before the laxatives start working?" I asked her quietly as soon as we both sat down.
"Well...with the amount I added and a Were's fast metabolism let's say in the next 40 minutes" I smiled and shook my head at the excitement in her voice, turning to the sparing werewolves.
The match was slow and boring for the first 20 minutes but after 30 minutes, 20 soldiers and 30 trainees were down on their backs.
"Woah" Scarlett shouted excitedly as a trainee kicked a soldier on the stomach forcefully, pushing the soldier back with full force. "That kick was powerful"
"I felt it from here," I said, astonished at the trainee's kick.
We both continued watching the match, screaming and moving in accordance to whoever caught our attention when all of a sudden some trainees started clutching their stomachs.
"I bet you a 100 dollars that some of them will poop right here" Scarlett whispered suddenly and I chuckled.
"Shut up," I said, a smile on my face.
The trainees continued sparring even tho anyone could see they were in pain. One buff-looking trainee, continued his fight while occasionally clutching his stomach. Anyone around could see that he was in pain, but he continued fighting.
He tried to cover it up and attempted to kick his opponent in the groin, and ended up popping his trousers.
Everyone immediately stopped sparing and turned towards him, they all covered their nose in disgust while he shamefully ran out of the field. Everyone stood shocked staring at his retreating figure, while a few other wolves that were previously clutching their stomach quickly ran out of the field.
"Please continue," I said to the trainees, and soldiers that were still standing and processing what just happened. They turned to me and bowed slightly, then continued their spar.
"Well that was interesting," Scarlett said slyly, popping a popcorn into her mouth.
"How can you eat after that scene?"
"What? Common, that show deserves popcorn eating" she said, filling her mouth up with popcorn.
"You're cleaning up this mess tho," I said bluntly, and she waved her hand dismissively while nodding her head.
I looked back to the field and only a few werewolves were still sparing, I looked at the timer and only 40 minutes were left.
"Looks like we might be getting lots of soldiers this time around," I said to Eliana.
"Yup, looks like it. The last test is real combat right?"
"Yes, Scarlett is in charge of that. This is the last test we will sit for."
Eliana quickly asked to take control, so she can see the actual spar and not the images in my head. I agreed and she watched the rest of the spar, occasionally making evil jokes with Scarlett.
She gave me back control when the timer went off and all the sparring stopped. The trainees that passed the round lined up as soon as I stood up.
"That was an interesting match, you all seemed to have prepared very well for this. Your strong kicks, punches, and strength to keep standing on your feet all through were all amazing to watch" I said and they all shouted happily
"And I'll like to announce that this brings an end to you all being trainees, you're officially combatants! Congratulations for coming this far."
Shouts of excitement erupted from them and I gave them time to express their joy before I continued "you only have one test left to become soldiers of Blood moon pack, and Captain Scarlett will be your examiner. Good luck and congratulations once more"
"Thank you, Commander Selene" They chorused together and I smiled brightly at them. With that being said, I walked out of the field and back to the Alpha house.
"How was the selection?"my mum asked the moment I walked in and I smiled at her.
"It was interesting ma," I said and plopped down beside her on the couch, ranting off to her about all that happened during the selection.
"Scarlett will never change," She said in between laughs and I bobbed my head in agreement "I'm glad it went well sweetie"
"Thanks, mum," I said, a bright smile gracing my face.
"You're welcome. Well this came for you" she passed a white envelope, sealed with an Alpha's stamp to me "it's Alpha Derrick's official apology"
I ran my hands through the envelope surprised "it came earlier than expected"
"Yeah, I guess he wanted to please you," she said and we both chuckled.
"Go and freshen up I'll tell an omega to bring up your lunch." She said placed a quick kiss on my forehead, before I stood up and walked up to my room
I stared at the envelope in my hand for a while after I got into my room, then placing it on my side table "I'll check it tomorrow"